Chapter 47
A Giantess Inherits a Library
Roger checked over his cargo manifest one more time.
The book cage he had installed in the Martin Mariner was already filled with several bundles of boxes all ready to be unfolded, taped and filled with their intended contents, books, hundreds and hundreds of books, all of them once belonging to Freya's grandmother, Induna Hagridsdottir.
Now they were Freya's and they were being relocated to the recently completed research library near their home in Portland, Oregon.
Roger had gotten enough boxes to make up two hundred book boxes for starters and they would be reused as necessary until all of Induna's books and related documents had been moved.
The rest of the cage was filled with a two month supply of nibblies, bags of potatoes, boxes of fresh and dried fruits and nuts.
Roger smiled, he had also included two barrels of Scottish heather ale for his mighty host Sigurd Gunnarson, Freya's gigantic father.
He looked over at his towering companion, Freya was carefully tucking one of her garment bags into the storage locker for the flight.
"Looking forward to tomorrow when we leave?"
She smiled at him and replied, "Ay coorse, thes time ye'll be stayin' oop wi' me instead ay ye droppin' me aff an' leavin'."
Roger grinned at her and replied,"I don't know how much fun we're gonna have. Between us filling book boxes and loading them onto this plane to fly them down here, only to turn right around and fly back for more. Then there's my getting drafted by your dad into going out hunting for whatever I see gamewise. Yeah, we'll be kinda busy I'm afraid."
"That's awright, Ah dornt min' warkin' oan me summer vacation, an' Ah'll get some maur flyin' time oonder me belt."
Roger chuckled and commented, "Hopefully you won't be sick of flying by the time we come back home in two months!"
Freya looked around inside the roomy interior of the Martin Mariner with a smile and said, "Ah'm nae sure Ah coods ever get 'sick of flying' loch ye said. It's verra nice tae fly above th' clouds an' look doon oan the lands below us.
"Ah enjoy seein' other parts ay th' warld an' tellin' me fowks aboot what Ah've seen, an thes auld plane wull take me whaure'er Ah wish tae gae."
Roger smiled at her and said cheerfully, "That's the spirit!
Their last night at home was spent fairly quietly, take off time was at six A.M. So no parties like her thirteenth birthday party the week before were even considered.
Anna Karlsen had ensconced herself in her room with her laptop and her notes and was typing feverishly, a new book rapidly coming into being as she typed away.
Anita Larsen was also typing away like mad, a plot bunny had struck her and she was furiously typing away before the bunny hopped away again and took the story idea with it.
Sasha as usual, was stretched out before the small fireplace in the front parlour, her massive paws twitching as she chased bunnies in her sleep.
Freya had her friend Lorna Yamada over and they were laying video games while Roger sat quietly reading with Dena, a tiny wood wife snuggled in his lap.
He smiled at Dena and said softly, "We won't be gone the whole summer, we'll be going back and forth bringing boxes of Induna's books, so don't be getting into any mischief okay?"
Dena looked up at him with guileless bright blue eyes and a smile on her pretty face.
Roger grinned at her and said softly, "Your innate cuteness will not avail you here. Anna can't always watch you two and Anita will have her own responsibilities."
Dena smiled and replied coyly, "Ah took verra guid caur ay Induna, Ah'm hardly th' wee scamp ye thenk Ah am."
Roger chuckled softly and squeezed her very gently, in return she burrowed into his chest and said softly "Ah'm gang tae miss ye aw while yoor gang tae me haem."
"And I'll miss you too, little one." he murmured.
Five A.M. Came a little too early for Roger's taste and he woke to find a tiny form curled up next to him.
Dena often crawled into his bed while he was asleep and the night before was no exception.
He got up and toddled into the bathroom and turned on the hot water.
A few minutes later, feeling wide awake after the shower he took, Roger went downstairs and entered the kitchen.
There he found the ladies all finishing up their own breakfasts.
Sitting on the breakfast table was a plate with his own breakfast already on it.
Freya grinned and said gaily, "Since ye war sooch a sleepyhead, Ah made yer a breakfast. A'hm awreddy packed an' reddy tae gae, jist waitin' oan ye."
Roger smiled at her and remarked drily, "This wouldn't be your revenge for all those times I almost had to drag you out of bed now, would it?"
Freya just smiled in reply.
Fifteen minutes later, they were riding in the van while Anna piloted the vehicle through Portland's traffic on their way to the airport.
Roger rode shotgun and enjoyed a rare opportunity to look out the window and just look at the sights to be seen.
Anyone driving alongside them would have thought it strange that a grown man would be sitting with a lifelike doll in his lap.
Had they bothered to watch, they would have seen the doll chattering away quite happily to the grown man in the van next to them.
Dena rarely left the vicinity of the house and much of Portland was entirely new to her.
She exclaimed, "Thaur's sae mony fowk! Whaur dae they aw abide?"
Freya chuckled and remarked, "Ye hink thes is mony fowk, ye shoods hae seen Mexico city an' it's airport!"
Dena snuggled against Roger and said, "Nae thenk ye, Ah'll bide reit whaur Ah am wi' mah friends an' those Ah loove."
Anna smiled and said amiably, "There is a reason why I keep coming back up here. My home may be in Los Angeles, but my heart is up here in Portland. And you guys are all a part of my heart!"
They pulled up next to the bulky Martin Mariner gleaming brightly in the morning sun. Both Anna and Dena looked the big sea plane over until Dena said, "It's sae big! Tae hink thes can lain oan water. Next time Ah gang back tae Canada, Ah'll fly in thes insteid ay walkin' thaur."
Anna grinned and said, "You can fly this anywhere you like can't you? There's a lake near my birth home, I wonder if it is large enough for this to land on?"
Roger smiled and replied, "If it is at least a mile and a half long and isn't surrounded by high mountains, there is a possibility, but this is not a subtle way of arriving!"
They opened up the plane and began stowing their luggage.
Roger and Freya had already loaded the bulk of the load the day before, this was his rifle, fishing gear and clothing.
Freya mostly brought clothing and a swimsuit as she wanted to go swimming in the lake. Roger had merely shaken his head at her announcement of her intentions.
The chilly waters were mostly glacier melt but that didn't deter Freya.
After all, wasn't she a Jotun?
There was an exchange of hugs and kisses with Anna and Dena and they watched as the two of them climbed into the bulky Martin Mariner and began their pre-flights.
Freya looked over at him and said, "Dena gae ye quite th' kiss guidbye, she's gang tae miss ye."
Roger could only smile and remark, "She is quite the kisser, it's hard to believe someone so small could kiss like that...Is that usual between humans and woodwives?"
Freya could only shrug and reply, "Ah hadnae heard ay onie sooch thing atween men and wuid guidwives."
Roger waved at their friends out his side of the plane, they waved back and he started the left engine first.
A few minutes later, the eighteen cylinder 3,000 HP engine was running smoothly while the right engine was coughing and spluttering until it too, caught and cleared its throat.
Twenty minutes later, they were roaring down the runway and...Airborne!
The bulky seaplane leveled out at 9,000 feet and they set a course for the Ape Lake region, British Columbia, Canada.
Going by way of Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington, then into Canada over Vancouver, British Columbia then futher north and inland past Bella Coola and to Ape Lake which lay inside the southern end of Tweedsmuir national park.
The flight would cover some 575 air miles and at a 200 MPH cruising speed, would last around three hours.
Give or take.
Roger let Freya take the controls while he watched the skies and played navigator.
Shortly after taking off, he called Freya's mom on the satellite phone he had given her.
"Hello?"
"Hi Gudrun! I'm letting you all know that Freya and I are finally on our way up to the lake and figure on landing there in about three hours or so."
He heard Gudrun laugh and she replied gaily," Ah'm still gettin' used tae th' idea ay ye twa bein' able tae fly up haur frae doon sooth!"
Roger chuckled and replied, "It sure beats the way I got there the first time and by the way, Freya is flying this time. I'm just watching the skies and enjoying the view."
Gudrun's gasp was quite apparent and she exclaimed, "Me yoongest bairn is flyin' 'at plane thes time? Wait'll Sigurd hears thes!"
Roger heard her turn her head and cry out, "Sigurd! Freya an' Roger ur camin' up an' wull be haur thes efternuin. We need tae meit them at th' loch, an' thes time, Freya is flyin' th' plane!"
Gudrun asked breathlessly, "Is it th' sam plane ye flew haur in lest time?"
Roger laughed and replied, "No ma'am, this one is the one I flew back from Brazil a while back. It is quite a bit larger than the Cessna I borrowed before when Induna died. You'll love it when you all see it!"
"Ah'm lookin' for'ard tae it!"
Roger smiled as he ended the call and said to Freya, "I have a feeling that most of your home village is gonna be there to see you coming in."
Freya smiled and remarked, "Noo ah'm gang tae be aw anxious aboot landin' in front ay me friends an' neighbors."
Roger chuckled and replied, "You'll be fine, just treat it like you would any other landing."
It was a perfect summer day for flying and the bulky Martin Mariner ran flawlessly as they cruised at just under 9,000 feet altitude.
Well above the smaller private planes and well below the bigger commercial airliner traffic, they pretty much had that part of the sky to themselves. So they enjoyed the view of the Coastal ranges to their left and the Cascade ranges to their right and kept one eye out for other aircraft approaching as they flew north.
About an hour after taking off, they were flying over Oak Bay and approaching Vancouver.
Once past Vancouver, they would be continuing on their course towards Bella Coola, Canada.
Looking down at the landscape below them Roger commented, "I still find it hard to believe that Sasha and Dena came through all this without being seen, all those eyes down there and they slipped through all that."
Freya herself looked down and after a few moments commented, "Fur us hidin' is second nature, we've hidden sae lang 'at bein' ootwith in th' open seems strange tae us. It took me awhile tae get used tae bein' oot in th' open when Ah first cam doon."
Roger shrugged and remarked, "I guess it wasn't as hard as it looks to me. I'm sorry your people felt it necessary to hide for so long."
Approaching Ape lake, Freya lined the heavy seaplane up with the peak of Ape Mountain to her left and eased back on the throttles.
As the plane descended, she kept the nose up and aligned with the long axis of the chill alpine lake, her hand poised over the throttles in case she needed to abort the landing and come back around.
To their right was an expanse of snow still melting under the summer sun.
To their left was the forested shoulder of the mountain and just inside the forest's edge waited her family and friends.
Freya eased the big Martin Mariner onto the placid waters of Ape Lake and let out an audible sigh of relief as the heavy seaplane settled onto the water and slowed rapidly.
They were down safely!
By manipulating the throttles, Freya steered the heavy seaplane towards the simple dock the Jotuns had put up.
To Roger's amusement, there was a couple of floatplanes already there and tied off to to some tree stumps near the shore.
The arrival of the bulky Martin Mariner quickly became an event as people emerged from the tents pitched near the dock to gawk at the large aircraft that had settled on the lake so unexpectedly.
Freya's people coming out of the forest added even more gawkers to the mix and soon, there was a gathering of diminutive humans and frost giants, all making each other's acquaintances.
A couple of the campers dogs were busily making friends with the enormous Jotun wolves and all was well.
Freya shut off the engines and as the huge propellers ceased their whirling, the Martin Mariner eased itself against the dock, ready to receive a gangplank.
Roger grinned at Freya and said cheerfully, "That was as smooth a landing as any I've experienced!"
She smiled shyly and replied, "Ah was a bit nervous camin' in, th' loch seemed sae verra small as Ah as linin' up fer th' landin'."
Roger chuckled and remarked, "Be grateful you'll never have to land on an aircraft carrier, they look like a postage stamp from the air and you're convinced you'll skip right off the end of the ship."
"Did ye e'er hae tae lain oan an aircraft carrier?" asked a wide eyed Freya.
"Me? No, but I've watched them coming in and landing on one...Totally ballsy those guys."
They exited the craft to a joyous welcome by the assembled Jotuns and the human campers. Sigurd was beaming with fatherly pride and he declared in his booming voice, "'at was me dochter 'at was flyin' thes airplane!"
He stepped forward and engulfed Freya in a warm, fatherly hug.
As big as she was now, he was still some two and a half feet taller than her and still quite massive in size.
He released her and she was hugged by Gudrun, her still much larger than her mother.
Meanwhile, her brother Olaf was renewing his acquaintance with Chris, one of the humans camping by the lake.
Chris's sister Hilde was happily glomming onto one of the giant wolves and digging her hands into the deep fur of the huge wolf.
Roger's heart nearly skipped a beat when he heard a familiar voice, "It's sae guid tae see ye again me niece's wee cheil!" and he was scooped up in a big hug by Barbara, Freya's rambunctious aunt.
The giantess smooshed him between her large breasts and planted a resounding kiss right on his lips.
This was much to the annoyance of Freya, who frowned as Roger struggled to get free from Barbara's embrace.
She laughed and set him back down on his somewhat shaky feet, her bright blue eyes twinkling in merriment while Roger recovered his scattered wits and managed to say somewhat drily, "It's good to see you too."
The owner of one of the floatplanes approached Roger with a grin, he was the pilot who had provided Roger with an airtaxi service when he came up to get Freya after returning from Brazil.
"Hi, remember me?" He said as he extended his hand.
Roger smiled at him and replied, "Of course! You offered me a job."
As they clasped hands the man glanced at the bulky Martin Mariner and commented, "So that's it, eh? I can see you've made a few changes."
Roger smiled and replied, "We took off all the military bits and upgraded the engines for more power to climb out of alpine valleys better. Cruising speed is up to about 250 now, though we kept it at around 200 on the way up here today."
Freya came walking up and said with a smile, "Hello, we brooght uir own plane thes time aroond!"
He grinned at her and remarked, "I saw you bring that in, that was a nice, smooth landing, you're pretty good."
He looked her up and down and said, "You've done a bit of growing since I saw you last."
Freya just smiled in reply.
Roger opened up the side cargo door and stepped inside where he was joined by Olaf, the youngest of Freya's brothers.
He stood up straight and grinned, at just under nine feet tall his head still had some room to spare.
Sigurd would have to stoop slightly but he was fully grown.
Olaf chuckled and said, "Tae hink me yoonger sister can fly thes hin', me parents ur sae prood ay 'er, they're fit tae burst wi' pride!"
Roger smiled at him and replied, "Your parents aren't the only ones who're proud of her"
He glanced outside at Freya still talking to the owner of the float plane they had flown in before. "I'm very proud of her too!"
The plane listed slightly when Sigurd bent over, stepped into it and he straightened up as far as he could.
He beamed and said, "Ah was sae prood tae see me yoongest bairn a flyin' thes hin'. Ah dae wish Induna an' me fowks waur haur tae see thes!"
Roger smiled and replied, "I was just telling Olaf how proud I am of her and yes, I too wish Induna could have seen this."
He gestured at the bundles of boxes and said, "I brought these up to be made into book boxes..."
Pointing at the two barrels of ale he said, "Of course, I brought something to help wash down the food I'll be eating while I'm here."
Sigurd smiled and remarked, "Me uncle Harald wull loch thes!"
A short time later, the plane had been emptied of its cargo and locked up.
The giants said their farewells to the humans camping by the chilly lake and began the trek up into the forests growing against Ape Mountain.
It was the usual long uphill slog with Roger just able to keep up, while Freya out of long habit held onto his hand as if to pull him along.
As always, Roger marveled at the strength of his Jotun companion and her relatives.
Freya smiled at him as she trudged along with her two month's supply of nibblies balanced atop her own backpack filled with her clothing, all he could do was roll his eyes and continue plodding along under his own load.
Once the trail leveled out, it was a lot easier going and while Freya did not have to surreptitiously pull him along, she continued to hold his hand.
They approached the entrance to the dingle where the Jotun hamlet lay hidden and were greeted by a small pack of guardian wolves.
Roger smiled as he got the once over by the wolves on duty, he knew most of them from puppyhood and they welcomed him with licks and a presenting of rumps for a scratching.
Passing through the entrance was like stepping through a portal into another world.
A deep carpet of pine needles cloaked everything alongside the trail and their footsteps were muffled by the yielding surface they trod upon.
Overhead the mighty boughs enmeshed to form a pine scented canopy.
Roger gently squeezed his companion's hand as they walked side by side beneath this greenwood canopy, Freya smiled shyly and returned his simple gesture of affection.
The canopy opened up a bit and they were in the hamlet now.
Roger saw at once that more garden plots had been added and a couple of newer houses had been built out more in the open, instead of being tunneled right into the side of the great mountain they called home.
Several young children stopped in their play and stared curiously at Roger and Freya walking hand in hand.
Gudrun smiled at the children and said to Roger, "We hae some new families noo. They cam haur lest faa. Their kids huvnae seen a body ay th' wee fowk afore."
Roger smiled and remarked, "I thought I saw a few additions around here, at least a couple of new houses and some new garden plots. I guess Freya is new to them too."
Gudrun chuckled and replied,"'at willnae be fur lang, Freya will make their acquaintance suin enaw!"
Roger grinned and said, "Freya is very good at making acquaintances. A couple of weeks ago she welcomed a new girl to the school, a girl who stood little more than half her height. Now they're friends."
Gudrun smiled at that remark then asked, "Hoo is Dena, is she behavin' herself? She took sooch guid caur ay me mammy. We waur surprised when she left tae join ye twa doon sooth. Ah tried tae reason wi' 'er but she'd gart up 'er min tae gang."
Roger snorted then remarked, "Dena is a force of nature. She and poor Sasha looked like hell when I saw them after they arrived at our place. I wanted to choke her for pulling that little stunt of showing up like she did and of course, she pretty much does what she likes. Thank goodness she's not prone to doing stupid things."
Freya interjected drily,"It doesnae help when Roger haur spoils 'at stoatin' great wolf an' went ootwith an' got Dena a whole bunch ay wee furniture an' 'hings. Ay late she's taken tae kissin' oan heem loch he's 'er guidman ur somethin'."
Gudrun paused a moment then remarked,"A woodwife kissin a cheil? That's nae somethin' ah've heard ay afore. Dena main pure loch ye Roger."
Moments later she chuckled and remarked,"Ah suppose there's waur things than bein' kissed by a woodwife!"